Iowa teen needs your help to walk again

A teenager fighting for the chance to walk again said she needs your help to make it happen.

Mackenzie Gorden, 18, is confined to a wheelchair after a car crash on June 4, 2012. She lost use of both her arms and legs.

"By the time someone had actually found me, I had been laying there for hours," said Gorden.

Gorden was driving home to Lake City when she swerved to miss a deer and ended up hanging upside down in her truck. She didn't know how bad it was until a doctor delivered the news.

"He walked into the room and told me I would never walk again and my sister and I, you know, instantly started crying," said Gorden.

The doctor told Mackenzie that she would never walk again, but she is determined to go against the odds and walk again.

"It was really hard to like watch them kind of find someone to replace me," said Gorden.

She was part of a cheerleading stunt group and a high school dance team captain.

"I was expecting to have a whole other year of being able to do these things, and got cut short," said Gorden.

Gorden had dreams of cheerleading in college too. Now she dreams of walking again.

"I'm just really determined that if I want to do something I'm going to find a way to do it one way or another," said Gorden.

At rehabilitation hospital in Colorado the South Central Calhoun High School senior moved her legs for the first time.

"It was like moving and moving and I was like, 'Mom, you know like, like come here a second,' and she's like 'Did you to that,' and I'm like, "I'm pretty sure, I'm not 100-percent sure it's me," said Gorden.

She learns to improvise along the way each day getting closer to a recovery.

Gorden said she can't recover unless she continues her work in Colorado, but she said her family can't afford the $30,000 price tag for the specialized therapy.

"They help push you. I mean, it's not too much, but it's enough that you're like, I'm actually gaining something from being here," said Gorden. "Even if I'm in a wheelchair I feel like I can still inspire others and you know, tell them that you can do it again. You want to do it if you really try."

Gorden's family has raised $10,000 of the $30,000 she needs to return to the Colorado NeuroRecovery Network's program, which is provided by the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

You can donate to Gorden's effort at The Gorden Medical Fund c/o Brittanie Gorden, 215 West Jackson Street, Lake City, IA, 51449 or online at https://fundly.com/believe-in-mackenzie/dashboard.

Gorden's family is selling T-shirts for $15 and they will ship them for an additional $5.80.